.
I can no longer call our nightly visiting skunk he.
.
.
She’s a momma and she brought her baby!
.
.
This is too much cuteness, I can hardly stand it.
.
.
So sweet!!
.
.
A junior stinker.
.
.
Be still my heart.
❤️❤️❤️
.
Momma’s little stinker.
Tag Archives: maine
Stone garden border project… day 2, disagreement 2.
.
I was helping.
.
.
In so far as the husband would let me help… with what was my idea to begin with. That’s usually how things go at Casa River. I want to do something and come up with a plan… then the husband gets involved and does it completely his way.
.
.
Granted he knows more about stone wall building… but I had a vision ya know?
.
.
I like weird looking rocks, like this bird’s head skeleton I placed in the corner ….
.
.
And these two that look like ham steaks. I wanted them prominently placed to give the border some quirk and character.
.
.
So of course the husband moved all three and buried them. When I said something? He got ticked off and told me I can let him build it or hire someone else to do exactly what I want… and believe me that’s tempting.
.
.
I love my husband. I do. He’s a wonderful man. But it would be nice if we could a work project together… in harmony, like we used to. Whether it’s male menopause, adjusting to retired life or basic old man crankiness .. lately he tests my patience to the point where I just have to walk away. Why must every difference of opinion turn into a fight? It’s exhausting.
Do you work well with your spouse/significant other. Or do you have to take a hike as well?
.
The one where His Lordship takes a dirt bath, battles a peony and checks out the man cave.
.
I think he does it just to aggravate me.
.
.
On every walk, he will find every patch of dirt.
.
.
And roll until he and his harness are filthy. The spot underneath the bird feeders that’s mixed with empty seed husks and poo is a favorite.
.
.
And when you can’t find a woodchuck to play with? Peonies have to do.
Hard to believe in the year since we adopted his Lordship, he’s never made it out to the man cave. There’s something about the barn which always gives him pause. Oh, he’ll walk around it and try to crawl underneath it.. but it took me a good 9 months to get him comfortable sitting on the porch. Then yesterday out of nowhere he scratched on the door….
.
.
And viola!
.
.
A whole new area to explore.
.
.
I thought he’d enjoy it, but before long he was whining and pawing at the windows to get out.
He’s a strange little dude our Dudley.
.
Breakfast with siblings.
.
Morning brings the baby chucks in a group.
.
.
They squabble a bit now and then but as long as the apples and carrots are plentiful they usually munch side by side.
.
.
Momma has been leaving them alone more often now.
.
.
It won’t be long before she boots them out of the den altogether.
.
A recipe, a spoiled cat and something worse than dishwater beer.
.
While I’m usually not a recipe poster, my husband raved about this one after the first bite… and he’s not a man for random compliments. I’ve been cooking for him for 38 years and while I’m no Julia Child, I can hold my own in the kitchen. But when I find a quick and easy recipe? I have to share.
.
.
.
This works just as well with haddock, as long as the pieces are thick.
.
.
Spoiled cat? No. What gave you that idea…
.
.
Proof positive there is something worse than dishwater beer.
🤢
.
Stone garden border project… day 1, disagreement 1.
.
Work began on the perennial bed stone border recently… though not without incident.
.
.
The existing bed measured 10×20… and when I first discussed the project with my husband I told him I wanted to expand it by at least 4 feet due to the apple tree that took up residence a decade ago. He heard me, but clearly didn’t care.
.
.
Because when I looked outside the other day and saw him staking off level lines at the edge of the dirt… I said something.
Big mistake.
Huge.
.
.
He heatedly explained the stone needed to be laid on flat earth and if I wanted him to do it, they would be laid inside the bed border. Period. End of discussion. Numerous hours of anger to follow.
Ladies? Never doubt the existence of male menopausal mood swings. They’re real.
.
.
His way means I lose a good foot on every side, making my garden bed 4 foot smaller instead of larger. Not what I wanted. Not what I’d planned.
.
.
But apparently what I’m getting.
.
.
It’s hard to argue when I’m clearly not the one doing the majority of work. And I’m sure it will be lovely when completed…
But it would be nice if just once, we could come to an agreement without acrimony.
.
In which we discover how truly anal I am.
.
I have a large collection of vintage vinyl albums. It used to number close to 800, but I made the mistake of storing a large portion of them in my MIL’s attic years ago between moves and a leaky roof cut my collection in half. Today, after culling… it’s slightly over 350, and though they’ve been housed in plastic crates for the past 20 years, I recently decided they should be relocated to the man cave in vintage wooden beer or whiskey crates.
.
.
Did I mention my albums are organized alphabetically?
.
.
The Dewar’s scotch crate that I liberated from the husband’s stash (because if he’s not going to give it to the pub, he can give it to me) has A-B.
.
.
When I pick up a few replacements here and there at flea markets?
.
.
Adjustments must be made.
Pickwick Ale?
.
.
C, D, E and F.
Those were the only two alcohol related crates my husband had in his crap treasure filled cellar, so I guess I’ll have to go antique shopping for G through Z.
😉
You never know who you’ll meet at a bar.
.
The husband and I dropped by a favorite haunt last week.
.
.
The cocktails are always stellar. Blood orange gin fizz? Yes, please.
.
.
Garlic Parmesan wings? Don’t mind if I do.
.
.
Cucumber cooler?
.
Good enough to have two, one before my meal.
.
.
And one with my fish and chips. But it was the bar patrons on either side of us who were really interesting.
On the left? A doctor of infectious diseases who worked alongside Anthony Fauci for 5 years.
On the right? A man who put a plastic top with a straw on his glass of Jameson because he has a tendency to spill after two.
You just never know.
🤣
.
A coffee drinking cat and other random photos of his lordship.
.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten is an odd bird. His latest quirk is stealing a few sips of my husband’s coffee in the morning.
.
.
I thought he was attracted to the cream, but pouring him a bowl of that of his own earned me nothing but a turned up nose.
.
.
This is his favorite hosta. Every time we go for a walk he’s determined to find something to chase in there.
.
.
The cat knows how to chill, no doubt.
.
.
Until the dreaded vacuum is turned on. Then the ears go back and he beats feet to hide under the bed and dream of vengeance.
.
.
Follow the leader.
‘
The visiting pair of mallard ducks hasn’t been spotted at Casa River for a few weeks now… so I figured it was getting too dry and they’d moved on.
Until the other day when I was out mowing the front lawn and saw this:
.
.
Momma duck and 13 babies!
.
.
She sashayed across the lawn and headed right for the road … in front of an oncoming car which had me ditching the mower and running into the street waving my arms like a crazy person.
.
.
She tried crossing three times and three times I had to stop traffic only to have her duck ( pun intended ) back on the lawn.
.
.
Fourth time was vehicle free.
Momma and babies made it safely across.
.
River's world..... 